AOC Vaccination Letter - Note to potential Team Members
2008 AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC TEAM
Games of the XXIXth Olympiad, Beijing
BEIJING 2008 IMMUNISATION PROGRAM
NOTES FOR TEAM MEMBERS
As part of your preparations for Beijing 2008, it is strongly recommended that prospective Australian Olympic Team members are immunised for Hepatitis A and B and Typhoid.
Any overseas travel is an opportune time to review individuals overall vaccination status. Further, Beijing will potentially expose members to conditions such as measles and whooping cough that are less commonly encountered in Australia. Thus it is appropriate that immunization for these conditions which are fortunately covered by Australia's childhood immunization program is reviewed and updated. This review will include conditions such as chicken pox and meningococcal meningitis which some of the group may not have included in their childhood regime as these have only more recently become available.
Process
As such, it is appropriate that each member has an individual review of their status for their Beijing specific conditions and general conditions. Options for this are appointment with Family General Practitioner or attendance at one of State Sport Institutes or at one of the medical centres of The Travel Doctor-TMVC Group clinics. This group has been involved in the establishment of vaccination protocols.
Cost
The AOC has been able to obtain sponsorship for vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). This will mean that the doctor at the clinic is able to tailor the various combinations of hepatitis A and B alone or together to meet individual needs as well as typhoid and update of tetanus and polio without cost. The vaccines will be held at the clinic and administered at the time of consultation. No special ordering will be necessary. The consultation and any necessary blood tests will be fully rebatable through Medicare. It is only if an individual is recommended to have one of the other vaccines -such as measles, German measles, or chicken pox that there will be a cost to the individual. The GSK sponsorship will also cover influenza vaccine in autumn of 2007 and 2008 with a similar process or team doctors may administer these at team gatherings.
Documentation
While vaccination is not an "enforced" requirement to be a part of the Team, it is strongly recommended both for these Games and on-going health practice.
GSK and AOC are developing a card on which individuals can record their vaccination/immunization history.
Time frame
As repeated injections are required (Hepatitis is preferably given at 0,1 and 6 months intervals although an accelerated program of 0, 7 and 21 days with a "top up" at 12 months), it is advisable to have this process under-way in advance of travel to China.
It is important to note that vaccinations are not 100% guaranteed. It is critical to still practice appropriate food and water hygiene, blood products and needles and sexuality precautions to minimise risk. This also will reduce chance of acquiring non vaccine preventable conditions such as diarrhoea. This is especially so if China travel involves more prolonged time in rural areas where issues such as rabies, malaria and other forms of hepatitis not encountered in cities are potentially a risk. This should be addressed at travel doctor appointment if relevant.
Avian influenza likewise is a rural risk. Poultry markets and products need to be avoided in these settings.
Should you have any questions in relation to this process, please contact me at peter.baquie@bigpond.com.
Regards
Peter Baquie
Medical Director
2008 Australian Olympic Team